It has been one of those weeks — the sort that prompts an existential audit. Recently, I have caught myself asking the question: What exactly am I doing at Cornell? As a semi-retired theatre kid now entrenched in the study of Economics, I cannot help but feel I took a detour. By all accounts, I was supposed to be in New York City, auditioning for Broadway and maybe performing at 54 Below. The dream of chasing the neon lights on Broadway is not dead — it lingers, as anyone who has seen my streaming queue can attest.
1. Fleabag
I love revisiting Fleabag whenever I have a quarter-life crisis because its characters are so gloriously flawed and yet, in their own messy, unapologetic ways, absolutely perfect. They make terrible decisions, deliver razor-sharp one-liners and unravel spectacularly — and somehow, it all lands like a perfectly timed punchline. I will admit, there are moments when Claire and Fleabag’s decisions are the purest embodiment of second-hand embarrassment. The kind so acute that I find myself physically recoiling, hands twitching with the urge to slam my MacBook shut and save us all from the impending disaster.
Perhaps it is the theatre kid in me, but knowing Fleabag began as a one-woman play makes the experience all the more thrilling. There is an intimacy baked into its bones; you can feel the echo of Phoebe Waller-Bridge alone on a stage, holding an audience in the palm of her hand with nothing but wit, vulnerability and unflinching honesty. It reminds me why I first fell in love with theatre — the sheer power of a single voice to fill a room, break your heart, and leave you laughing through the ache.
2. Meet the Parents Trilogy
Ben Stiller is brilliant in Zoolander and Night at the Museum, and in my opinion, none of his other projects compare to the magic of those two franchises. However, the Meet the Parents trilogy holds its own as a solid, if underrated, addition to his repertoire. Awkward, chaotic and packed with the kind of escalating misunderstandings that make you want to yell at the screen, it is a masterclass in cringe comedy. And somehow, Stiller’s perpetual state of panic as Gaylord “Greg” Focker, who has to deal with peak dysfunctional in-laws and parents, makes it all the more watchable.
3. A controversial take on Crash Landing on You and K-dramas
Here is a potentially controversial take, but one I stand by: Crash Landing on You is… not good. Despite its status as a beloved K-drama classic, I could not get through it without rolling my eyes every ten minutes. And, if I am being completely honest, I do not really enjoy K-dramas anymore (I can say this—I am literally from the motherland). Somewhere along the way, the charm wore off, and what once felt heart-fluttering and earnest now strikes me as overly saccharine, formulaic and frankly, corny. I respect the craft, I respect the fandom, but these days, I find myself craving something a little less predictable.
4. How to make a DCF?
Lately, my YouTube search history has been living a double life. Half of it is Broadway “slime tutorials” (if you know, you know), and the other half is desperate searches for basic financial modeling walkthroughs. And yet, despite my best efforts, I still find myself asking: what is a DCF?
5. Heartbreaking Lizzy McAlpine Edits and Theatre Content on TikTok
From witnessing a turtle doll singing “Burn” from Hamilton to receiving weird mukbang content from my situationship, TikTok tends to be more of a final resort when I get bored. I feel like TikTok can magically sense when I am crashing out and loves to feed into it by presenting sad content layered with any Lizzy McAlpine song. By the way, I knew every song on the Older album by heart, even before “Spring into Summer” went viral on TikTok. Does anyone else also listen to a song from a specific era of your life just to be transported back?
Oh, and did anyone see Ryan McCartan raging at people who laughed at his death scene in The Great Gatsby and threatening to hex anyone who thought it was funny? I watched him fall to his knees on stage because someone posted it on TikTok, and I will admit — it was a bad fake death. I stifled a laugh in class. I guess I am hexed too.
I think that my existential crisis warrants a free pass since I am a freshman in college. There is no better time than the present to not know what you are doing with your life. If I am being honest, I think that a huge part of my convoluted FYP comes from the fact that my heart and head are in two different places. I guess it will be up to me to figure out what to do in the long run… but I will probably continue enjoying my niche mix of content until then.
Katie Kim is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at sk2673@cornell.edu.
"Are You Still Watching?” is a column spotlighting what the Cornell community has been streaming. It runs every Wednesday.
